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  #1  
Old 03-22-2015, 05:47 PM
Mad City Flyers Mad City Flyers is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Madison
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Default Winter Project - Scratch built triple cluster

Hi,

Thought I'd share the scratch build project I've been up to over the winter. The project started with an Ebay purchase of a Thoy Snipe kit that was missing the body tubes and nose cone, but had the motor mounts for a 24mm triple cluster, centering rings, plywood fins, parachute etc.

After getting the heavy wall 2.6" body tube and nose cone I decided to tweak the design.
  • 24mm triple canted motor mount following the flis kits design and a 15 degree angle
  • changed the fin design and went bigger
  • Ejection baffle
  • Dual deploy with AV bay from Mad Cow Rocketry
  • Stratologger CF altimeter
  • 9/16 tubular nylon shock cord
  • Epoxy for all attachments
  • through the wall fin mounting
  • rail buttons with stand-offs from Doghouse rocketry
  • Fin fillets were made using a mix of Great Planes 30 min epoxy, West System 403 microfibers and FGCI Phenolic microballons.
  • primed with Rustoleum 2x gray and finished with metallic blue and silver

I also built a standard bulkhead which is attached to the payload section to allow the rocket to be flow without the AV bay for lower altitude flights. Seems better to have the option of proving its flight worthiness first without the complexity of the dual deploy. Total weight with motors came out to around 850G without the AV bay and 1050g with AV bay. Open Rocket predicts somewhere between 1500 and 2500ft depending upon motor configuration.

Can't wait to bring it to Bong this spring. Plan is to fly it on a combination of 3x F44-8w and then 3x F32J-8T composites. Will of course wait to fly after completion of L1 certification as the combined thrust is over 100N.

I attached a few pics.

Cheers!!

Matt
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  #2  
Old 03-26-2015, 08:37 AM
Kevin Huddleston's Avatar
Kevin Huddleston Kevin Huddleston is offline
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Nicely done! When will it be ready to fly?
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  #3  
Old 03-26-2015, 06:12 PM
Mad City Flyers Mad City Flyers is offline
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Default Ready to fly now!

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for checking out our project. She's ready to fly now as a standard engine eject single parachute deploy.

I need to get some BP and igniters to ground test the altimeter set up. I hope to fly it at the next Bong launch with the Woosh club in April.

We've also got a Mega Der Red Max and NCR SA-14 Archer ready to go.

Can't wait for some sun and dry ground.

Matt
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Old 03-27-2015, 08:22 AM
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Kevin Huddleston Kevin Huddleston is offline
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No kidding! Warm weather and dry ground has been a long time coming this year. I have a Binder Design Velociraptor still awaiting her maiden voyage that I hope to fly at Bong in April -- maybe, hopefully, for my L2 cert.

I look forward to seeing your birds fly! The challenge of watching successful cluster-motor rockets is always exciting.
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  #5  
Old 03-27-2015, 03:33 PM
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Randy Randy is offline
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Last edited by Randy : 04-04-2015 at 04:13 PM.
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  #6  
Old 03-28-2015, 12:32 PM
PaulK PaulK is offline
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Hey, looks great Matt, look forward to seeing it fly. F32 clusters should light fine, being blue thunder. The F44 motors are a variant of white lightning, and are a bit more difficult to light, though better than standard white lightning. Make sure you've got good igniters, don't use the ones that come with the F44 for a cluster, they're fairly light on pyrogen. I've had 2 F44/G74 Economax motors fail to light on the provided igniters, and saw another F44 fail to light at the last Bong launch.
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  #7  
Old 04-04-2015, 01:06 PM
Mad City Flyers Mad City Flyers is offline
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Default Igniter choices

Hi,

Great advice on the igniters. I've been waiting, like most I imagine, for the Quest Q2G2 igniters. I have seen the Wildman igniters suggested as a suitable alternative.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated as we do not want the dreaded CATO.

Thanks,

Matt
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  #8  
Old 05-25-2015, 08:59 PM
Mad City Flyers Mad City Flyers is offline
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Default Blackhorn 209 advice

Just picked up some Blackhorn 209 black powder substitute at the newly opened Cabelas in Sun Prairie.

Looking for advice from anyone who has used it for ejection charges in a dual deploy. I've read the tips about packing it tight and taping over the caps.

Plan to ground test prior to flying. Let me know if there are any tricks I should know about.

Thanks,

Matt
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  #9  
Old 06-22-2015, 05:56 PM
Mad City Flyers Mad City Flyers is offline
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Default First Flight!

Finally got the chance to fly the Sky Needle triple cluster this past Father's Day at the Bong!

It was windy, but we launched on 3 x F32J-8T composites with altimeter triggered drogue deployment at apogee and main deployment at 500ft.

Ejection charges were fired using Quest Q2G2 igniters and Blackhorn 209 powder. Turned out to be a good first flight as everything worked and the rocket was recovered with just a few dents and scratches. Had to use 3grams of the Blackhorn powder per charge.

One of the F32 motors seemed to ignite a little late and the main parachute did not fully open so it came down a little hard right on the gravel within 20 yards of the launch pad.

Altimeter beeped out 645 ft for apogee, which was less than expected.

A short video of the launch is posted on my Youtube channel:

Sky Needle First Flight 6/21/15

As this was a test flight of many firsts for us, we were thrilled at how it fly. The big tail fins and canted cluster produced a very nice flight.

Planning to move the E-bay over to our SA-14 Archer and try the Sky Needle again as a single motor deploy. Should reduce the weight a bunch.


Matt
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  #10  
Old 06-24-2015, 09:21 AM
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Kevin Huddleston Kevin Huddleston is offline
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Sweet!
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